Fool for Love
by hwc
Summary: The grinning idiot had always spelled trouble for Dadan.


**Title:** Fool for Love  
**Author:** **hunterwithcause**  
**Fandom:** One Piece  
**Pairing/Characters:** Dadan, Garp (mention of past Dadan/Garp)  
**Genre/Category:** Non-explicit het, fluff, What if?  
**Rated:** PG-13  
**Word count:** 1845  
**Warnings:** Mild language, mentions of sex  
**Spoilers/Setting:** Set long before the manga, spoilers up to chapter 551 (Ace execution arc)  
**Disclaimer:** I don't own One Piece, nor do I make money with this story.

**Summary:** The grinning fool had always spelt trouble for Dadan.

**A/N:** Given how little is known about Dadan at the moment, this is a What-If? scenario. Feedback is adored, and if someone spots any grammar/spelling/punctuation mistakes, I'd love it they would point them out, as this isn't beta read.

**Edit:** Jossed. Oh well, it was fun playing with my version of Dada! :D

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The first time Dadan met Ace, she had slammed the door closed in his face.

Well, not so much in Ace's face as in the face of the grinning bastard that held him.

"Aw, c'mon Dadan! Don't be like that!"

"Go away!"

"C'mon! Dadan!" Garp cried like a pouting child, "Open the door!" She threw all her weight against the door as the bastard tried to open it. "You'll wake the baby with all that racket!"

Baby...

That... that _asshole_!

"What do I care? Get your bastard brat away from me!"

"But he'll start crying!"

"I don't-"

Dadan banged her head against the wood in frustration. Images of a crying baby filled her mind.

Damn those maternal instincts.

She opened the door and glared at the bastard, cursing her heart for beating wildly in response to his happy grin.

"What?" she spat, venomously, resolutely not looking at the sleeping infant. Just the thought of the child was enough to sent a sharp stab of pain through her chest. What the hell was that idiot thinking, that she would be overjoyed to see his and some stupid cow's child? She gritted her teeth against the pain and anger coursing through her.

"What?" she repeated irritably when Garp didn't do anything but stare at her.

She blushed uncomfortably and looked away from his still grinning face, gaze falling upon the child in his arms. Embarrassment turned to righteous anger. If he was here to brag about how he'd found the perfect woman, the girl from his dreams she'd punch him. She'd beat him to a bloody pulp and make him pay for everything he'd done to her; leading her along, taking away her child, making her _feel_ this way, helpless, and unable to forget him or hate him for the ways he had made her suffer.

For still being in love with him.

What a fool she was.

The idiot's grin widened. "Looking good, Dadan."

She stared at him in disbelieve, blood flooding her cheeks as a pleasant warmth spread through her. Complimenting her while holding the boy in his arms, what was that idiot thinking? As if that would appease her.

"Don't think you'll get anywhere with smooth talking me. Say whatever it is you have come to say and then get lost," she replied stiffly. She wouldn't let that moron get to her. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice,... Never again.

"Aw, don't be like that. We haven't seen each other in ages! Don't you have anything to say to me?" he whined.

"You look old," she said, noting the wrinkles around his eyes. "And you're losing your hair," she observed with satisfaction. "Not as handsome as you once were, are you?" She crossed her arms in front of her chest, trying to project an air of cold indifference. Or maybe haughty satisfaction, anything that said that she was long over Garp.

He looked faintly hurt at her harsh words, and she had to look away again, feeling ashamed. "Well?" she asked again, covering up her discomfort, "What is it?"

He didn't reply immediately, but stared at her for a moment, the usual twinkling and mischievous eyes having lost their happy shine, his grin gone. She felt bereft without the stupidly wide grin, as though losing a great treasure.

"I have to ask you a favor," he replied finally, his unusually quiet voice ringing loudly in her ears. She clasped her arms tighter. "Please take care of this child," he said, nodding at the boy in his arms.

Dadan stared at Garp, numbly. She could feel the tendrils of an old anger curling in her stomach, but his serious tone and the confused hurt in his eyes lay heavy on her chest, making it hard to breath.

"Take care of this child? Take care of... You took away _my_ child!" she hissed, the old anger and betrayal muted by his pained expression, "You took my baby boy away!" Her nails bit into her skin as she valiantly tried to keep the tears at bay.

"I wanted him to be a Marine!"

"And look how that turned out!"

They stared at each other. As Garp's defensive frown morphed into a petulant scowl the tight knot of anger in Dadan's stomach began to uncurl.

Dragon's endless letters came to her mind, from childish drawings to the barely readable scrawl of his pre-teens to the fierce, political essays of his adolescent years. Even in his most passionate of written speeches Dadan had always been able to read between the lines, to see the boy asking his mother for advice he couldn't get from his severely opinionated father.

Garp may have physically separated her from Dragon when he took their son to start his 'Marine Training', but she had always been with her boy in spirit. She had had her revenge a long time ago when she gave Dragon the last push needed to start his revolutionary quest.

Besides, she had never been able to stay mad at Garp for any significant amount of time. And it was Dragon's explicit wish that his mother didn't hate his father for taking him away.

"Exactly!" Garp's voice shook her out of her musings, "Maybe the boy will turn out all right in your care!"

Didn't mean she couldn't get angry at Garp's utter lack of tact, though.

"_My_ boy," she replied icily, "turned out just fine, despite his unfavorable upbringing."

Garp pouted. "He's not a Marine," he mumbled.

"Serves you right."

"Dadan!"

She gazed at him, unimpressed. When he didn't try to defend himself any further, she brought the conversation back to the topic at hand. With a nod to the child she said, "Just because we have a child doesn't mean that it's my problem when you start sleeping around!" And yes, that hurt to say, but was something she had come to terms with a long time ago.

"But I've always done that," he said, frowning in confusion, "even when I was with you!" He took a surprised step backwards when Dadan stepped forward, enraged.

"You did what?" Leaving her all alone was one thing, taking her love and taking her child, she could forgive him both as in his carefree naivety he thought he was doing the best for everyone without realizing how his good intentions hurt her, but _cheating on her_! She would never have thought it possible, but here he was, that cheating asshole, telling her to her face-!

"Why are you so angry?" He asked, retreating further, "You even scolded me about it!"

"Scolded you? If I had known I would have drawn and quartered you!"

"But you did know!" he cried earnestly, "You often smacked me because of it!" He rubbed his head at the reminder.

Dadan stopped short. Smack him? With the pause rational thought returned. In her rage she had forgotten that she was dealing with a moron, it was quite possible...

"What are you talking about?" she asked, calmly.

Seeing that she had cooled down, Garp grinned in relief. "Well, you were always pretty angry when I fell asleep while we were talking."

Falling asleep...

Dadan massaged her temple. She was getting a headache, she just knew it. Honestly, falling asleep... She shook her head in exasperation and smiled as warm relief flooded her body.

"Why, what were you talking about?"

She froze. Blood shot to her cheeks as she stared at him with wide eyes. Oh please, don't let him figure it out! He had just caught her unawares, otherwise the jealousy wouldn't have gotten the better of her!

He looked from her to the child in his arms. "Oh," he said, "you meant that. I haven't done that with anyone else." He looked at her earnestly.

She snorted in disbelieve, not trusting herself to speak through her embarrassment. Still, she felt a flutter of hope at his words.

"No, really, I don't feel like doing it with anyone else."

Heart beating wildly, Dadan tried to squash the tiny shard of hope. "What about the boy?" she asked, gesturing to the infant. The still _sleeping_ infant, and what better proof did she need? No one but a child of Garp's could have slept through all that racket, no matter how much she wanted to believe his words.

"He's not mine."

"He's not?" she asked immediately, hopefully, and Garp laughed at the misunderstanding.

"He's the child of an old acquaintance."

"What about his parents?"

"Both dead," Garp said with a sad smile. Dadan felt a stab of pity for both the parents and the poor child, but still, she couldn't contain the giddy excitement.

Feeling as though a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders she smiled as everything started to make sense. Garp couldn't take care of a baby, not with his responsibilities as a Vice Admiral, so he had come to her, Dadan, the mother of his own child to take care of the boy. Her body tingled with warmth at the thought that Garp would trust her that much.

She smiled at Garp, who grinned back at her. Really, even though he was noticeable older than the last time she had seen him, he was still as handsome as ever.

"So you'll take him?" Garp asked, hopefully, holding the sleeping child out to her. She looked at the child, and decidedly took him from his arms. She had never been able to refuse Garp anything.

"I'll take him," she said, gazing at the tiny face and feeling herself fall in love with the angelic features. She was a mother, after all. "But don't think I'll raise him to be a Marine," she warned with a half-hearted glare.

Garp just grinned at her. "Another revolutionary, eh?"

Dadan looked back at the boy. "No, I'm more thinking pirate, this time," she joked softly, shifting the child to one arm to stroke one warm cheek lightly.

"Pirate? Well, it would fit, it's in his blood, after all."

She looked up at his words, curious, but he waved her off. "Well, I have to go. I forgot to tell anyone where I am!" he laughed carelessly. "Thanks for helping me out, Dadan." He grasped her shoulders, and gave her a peck on one still burning cheek before waving cheerfully and walking away.

Dadan stood frozen for a moment, the phantom heat of where Garp had touched her lingering on her skin. Then the child moved in her arms, and the spell was broken. Looking down at the wakening infant she realized-

"Garp! Wait!" she yelled at his retreating form, "What is the boy's name?"

Garp laughed heartily in the distance, and replied over his shoulder:

"Gol D. Ace!"


End file.
